Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson and County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis listen as Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow speaks during his first public appearance Wednesday during a Southside crime meeting.

Richard Burkhart

Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow speaks during his first public appearance Wednesday during a Southside crime meeting organized by City Alderman Tony Thomas.

Michael Berkow didn't go with a plan, a presentation or many answers, but the new Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police chief went to a southside Savannah meeting Wednesday night with open ears.

About 90 people turned out to express their concerns about crime and lawbreakers - and to meet Berkow during his first public appearance, which came at a Wilshire Area Neighborhood Association meeting.

Berkow heard about speeding drivers on Largo Drive and loud stereos coming off Abercorn Street. He heard about drug houses off Wilshire Road and shortages of police officers.

But the most important message the chief said he learned during his third day on the job was that the community cares and is willing to work with police.

"This is a community that is deeply committed to making change and improving quality of life," he said. "I've been here really the equivalent of five minutes. I know very little. I'm going to spend a bunch of time listening."

And that's what he did.

He listened to one woman who complained about illegal gambling at a Largo Drive convenience store.

He listened to Howard Spiva talk about the need for non-traditional policing strategies.

He heard Lonnie Teague demand more police officers on the streets.

"We have little larcenies and petty thieves increasing over here," he said. "It's nothing huge, but I think more police officers being seen would deter it."

The new police chief also heard Indiar Wilson praise the department's response to her complaints about drug activity off Wilshire Drive.

"I've seen a rise in drug activity, and it needs to stop," she said. "I have called them a number of times, and the police are right there. I made police aware, and it (the drug activity) slowed down."

Berkow told the group he would evaluate the success of his precinct commanders based on the responses he hears from residents.

Teague, a member of the Windsor Forest Neighborhood Association, knows firsthand what partnerships between police and residents can do.

A few months ago, he complained about cars speeding along Wilshire and into neighborhood streets such as Woodley Road. Police and the city then worked together. Within a few months, the speed limit was lowered, Teague said.

While that might sound small, it's those kinds of issues that affect residents.

"I'm a guy who believes at the end of the day, it's about safety and security," Berkow said. "If we can't make people feel safe, we're not doing our job."

Berkow told the group about his experience as a deputy police chief in Los Angeles and as a police leader abroad. Although he has seen everything from police brutality to civil wars, the new chief showed southside residents that their concerns are just as important.

"I live on Largo Drive, better known as little Abercorn. We don't get enough radar out there," said Kelley Strickland, a Wilshire resident for 26 years. "I was very pleased with the chief of police, and most of his answers were good. He said he'll take care of it, we'll just have to wait and see."

Berkow left with a list of issues he plans to dole out to his precinct commanders and other government agencies, such as those handling traffic engineering, the homeless and sanitation.

"That's what community policing is all about-partnerships. Neighborhood associations are some of the strongest partnerships we have," he said. "Every meeting I've been going to for 30 years is about quality-of-life issues - noise, speeding cars, teenagers. ... My job is to make sure we have a good quality captain and the resources to be effective."

One of those resources is the voice of concerned citizens, and there are plenty of those on the south side, said Alderman Tony Thomas, who organized the meeting.

"I thought there would be more people here," Thomas said. "But 100 people concerned about crime in a neighborhood can definitely make a difference."